Monday, 23 August 2010

The Third Day Of Our Holiday On The Isle Of Wight

We followed our ears after an early breakfast to track down the ducks that seem to be wandering around Gurnard Pines every day.

After a short walk through the woods we found the Duck pond, but couldn't convince the birds to sample our stale bread!

We had breakfast then we headed out for Blackgang Chine, hoping that the weather would hold and the day stay dry.

I would briefly like to talk about GPS Sat Nav In-Car Navigation devices. For our holiday on the Isle Of Wight I brought along our trusty Garmin Nuvi 200, and my Android Smart-Phone, the HTC Desire.

We have quickly found that the Garmin Nuvi 200 is very reliable, but it does have a tendency to take us down some very narrow single-track roads. We have driven around some of the Isle of Wights most scenic countryside, but it has been nerve-racking!

The HTC Desire, using Googles Maps and Navigation app, offers better routing, but the lack of 3g mobile network coverage meant that the phone couldn't always download the routes required.

I guess what I'm saying is that you should be careful and not always trust where your Gps is telling you to go, especially if you're driving a larger vehicle.

Back to Blackgangchine. The weather stayed clear and we had an enjoyable time on the (small) roller-coaster, the water-slide, the cowboy town, dinosaurs, haunted house and other attractions.

Blackgang Chine is really aimed at children younger than our Oliver, who is 12, so once we'd seen everything we headed back to our car for a packed lunch and a welcome cup of coffee.

Next up we drove to Nunwell House, which I have to say Suzanne and I enjoyed very much. The house has been occupied by Gentry for the last few hundred years, and has some great history.

The rain reared its ugly head as we looked around the rather plain garden, but the real reason why we visited Nunwell House was for the guided tour.

The history of the two main families that have occupied this grand building is quite dry, but it all came to life for me when the tour guide took us into the bedroom where Charles I enjoyed his last night of freedom before being arrested at Yarmouth the following day. To stand where Charles has stood, thinking about how he was to be be-headed, sent goose pimples down my arms.

After Nunwell house we popped into Oasis, an interesting furniture and gift shop, to sample a cream tea, coffee and cakes.

We then chose to go to Brickfield Car Boot Sale, held every Monday afternoon at five. We had the rather unusual experience of having to queue to enter the car boot, because they don't let anyone in before five! Not the largest of Car Boot Sales, we had a good look around then headed back home.

On the way to Gurnard Pines we drove into Cowes, looking for a convenience store to stock up on supplies. I was very pleased to find a cooperative, so we filled up with bread and sandwich stuff, then turned around and went to Gurnard Pines.

As a footnote, those ducks I mentioned earlier were waiting for us by the veranda of our holiday chalet. We grabbed some bread, fed the birds, then headed in for tea.